Funeral services for Mr. Mark Maloy Sheffield, 50, of Hartsville will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, August 24, at the First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Ashley L. Cheek will officiate. The family will receive friends in the narthex immediately following the church service. Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home is caring for the family.
Mr. Sheffield died peacefully on Wednesday, August 21, after a courageous 11-year battle with illness. Born in Milan, GA, he was the son of Javene Gillis Thomas and the late J.W. “Doc” Maloy Sheffield.
A faithful member of First Presbyterian Church, he served as a Stephen Minister, enjoyed ushering with his two sons and volunteered at the Hartsville Soup Kitchen. A graduate of Dodge County High School and Houston County Vocational and Technical School, he worked as a graphic artist in Georgia and South Carolina. After 15 years at Southern Graphics Systems, Inc. in McBee, SC, he became disabled while fighting Leukemia and underwent two transplants. Mark was a loyal and dedicated friend who never met a stranger and never had an enemy. Throughout his entire life and especially during his illness, he was a Christian witness to all who encountered him and raised his two sons to have a deep, abiding faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Mark enjoyed trips to the beach, NASCAR, his Ford trucks and mustangs and watching his favorite football team, the Georgia Bulldogs. He met his soulmate and best friend, Annisa, at Walmart; they married eight months later, and have been together for almost 27 years.
Surviving are his wife, Annisa Barry Sheffield; sons, Matthew and Mikey Sheffield; mother and stepfather Javene and Everett Thomas; sisters-in-law, Willene Sheffield and Maleia Barry; nieces, Tanya (Scott) Jenkins, Crystal (Shannon) Charlton, Renee Sheffield; nephew, Caden Jenkins; many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father, J.W. “Doc” Sheffield, and his brothers, Carl and Benny Sheffield.
The family would like to especially thank Dr. Abraham Areephanthu, Dr. Michael Pavy, Dr. Robert Stuart, Dr. Timothy Whelan and Dr. Luca Paoletti, his dedicated and selfless physicians; David Jahn, his bone marrow donor, Crescent (Embrace) Hospice; Lincare of Florence, the congregation, staff and session of FPC, Kirk and Joye Davis, James Tyner, Amber Ray and Cameron Funderburk.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Good Samaritan Fund of First Presbyterian Church, 213 West Home Avenue, Hartsville, SC 29550.